Peracid compositions, namely peroxycarboxylic acid compositions, exhibit useful antimicrobial and bleaching activity. Conventional peroxycarboxylic acid compositions typically include short chain peroxycarboxylic acids or mixtures of short chain peroxycarboxylic acids and medium chain peroxycarboxylic acids (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,200,189, 5,314,687, 5,409,713, 5,437,868, 5,489,434, 6,674,538, 6,010,729, 6,111,963, and 6,514,556, each incorporated by reference in its entirety).
A majority of existing peracid compositions, including peroxycarboxylic acids, suffer from unacceptable odors which are an inherent disadvantage of the compositions and limit their use in cleaning applications. Often the peracid compositions exhibit a sharp, annoying, or otherwise unacceptable odor that increases as the composition ages, beginning within as soon as a few weeks of formulation. Such malodors significantly limit the applications suitable for using such peroxycarboxylic acid compositions. It would be undesirable to apply such peroxycarboxylic acid compositions to large surfaces areas (e.g. floor cleaners).
According to the invention, there is a need for low or no odor antimicrobial peroxycarboxylic acid compositions.
It is an objective of the claimed invention to develop a peracid chemistry composition having a lower odor profile at the same or lower use temperatures.
A further object of the invention is a peracid composition eliminating the shorter carboxylic acids chains responsible for malodors of peracid chemistries.